


Even Split

by Dotdotbeepdot



Series: Sides Prequel Stories [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Actually wait all of them get angst, Anyways, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Angst, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders is a Dark Side, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders-centric, Creativity | Roman “Princey” Sanders has chronic pain, Gen, No unsympathetic sides like usual but Patton and Janus are iffy, Remus being Remus, The Split, They’re all kids still it’s reasonable that they aren’t the best at this, questionable parenting, so does Remus but it’s not talked about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26618491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dotdotbeepdot/pseuds/Dotdotbeepdot
Summary: People don’t often change their mind when you’re labeled a “problem child” so after the split, Roman was sent to live with the Dark Sides along with Remus instead of staying with the Light Sides.It doesn’t work out all that well... despite his best efforts to belong somewhere.
Relationships: None
Series: Sides Prequel Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2074788
Comments: 7
Kudos: 80





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!! This is my idea of how the split happened and what happened afterwards based on a post I made on my tumblr @remuscore. It also has my hcs on what Janus is and how the dynamic of the sides was before the split. Overall... it’s a /very/ angsty fic haha

There was screaming. Loud, _painful,_ screaming. Gut wrenching, ear bleeding, screams. Creativity couldn’t breathe, but that never stopped him from screaming.

It felt like his body was being ripped in half by a plastic butter knife. 

If he could think beyond the pain, he would probably wonder why it felt like his screams were doubled.

He doesn’t remember when it stopped, his mind too broken to understand that the painful pulling sensation had stopped and all he was feeling was phantom pain. It felt like ages before he came to and realized there was still shouting, though angry and coherent enough to form words.

“Morality, you could have killed them!” one voice shouted louder than the fumbling one and the calmer one. “You didn’t do it right! You were hurting them!”

“I didn’t mean to hurt him!” the fumbling one― Morality? Why were they yelling at Morality?― “I thought we could do this! We did this before, Reason!”

“Yes, but―” Logic was cut off once again.

“It worked for me because you were actually trying to create something out of it!” Reason hissed. Creativity could just barely see his shiny black shoes step closer to grey loafers until they practically touched from where he was stuck to the floor. “You just ripped him apart without an idea in mind!”

“He was _bad,_ Reason,” Morality whispered. He shot his arm out to gesture to Creativity’s much too still body. _“They’re bad.”_

Something about what Morality said reminded Reason of him and soon the shiny black shoes were rushing to his side. Pretty brown eyes, wide with worry and fear, was the first thing Creativity could see as he crouched down in front of him. Those eyes kept looking beside him. He looked so scared.

He remembered that he was a king. He was a king and these were his people and they were scared. He had to protect them from whatever was scaring them.

Creativity didn’t realize he was trying to speak until Reason grabbed his hand and shushed him quietly, petting his hair with a shaking hand. His hands were so cold and Creativity’s body felt so hot that he whined, fingers clenching weakly around Reason’s hand. Reason shushed him again and his voice was even shakier.

“A-are they dying?” Morality whimpered, shuffling a little closer to them. He stopped when Reason snapped at him, bristling.

“I don’t know!” He shouted, making Morality flinch. Reason looked to Creativity’s side when something moved. Reason shifted and he reached towards whatever moved. “He’s up too.”

Creativity tried to follow his gaze, to see what they were looking at. He probably should have had more of a reaction to seeing a clone of himself lying on his side like dead weight. He probably would have, knowing how dramatic he could be, if he wasn’t still in so much pain.

Morality started towards the clone, but once again, Reason bristled, stopping him in his tracks. 

“Reason, please,” Morality begged. “I know you’re mad at me, but Creativity—”

“I tried telling you that this was a bad idea,” Logic finally got his word in. He walked towards them with a serious attitude in every step. “For Reason, it was needed. We needed someone to use logic and emotion so we made it, but Creativity shouldn’t have ever been split. He didn’t have anything in him conflicting that needed to be split. Creativity isn’t something you can label right or wrong.”

“It’s a little too late for that, Logic.” Reason snarked, still sitting protectively in front of the two Creativities. Morality shifted.

“Okay, I’m sorry. What I did was wrong,” he sounded so guilty and sad. Creativity wanted to comfort him like he used to, making jokes and doing funny tricks. “But what do we do now?”

“Well, we can’t put them back together once they’re split…” Logic trailed off. Creativity strained his eyes up to see him flattening a hand down his shirt as he thought. “Reason… maybe you should help them.”

“What? Why me?” Reason twisted around to look at Logic.

“One, you are also a split. You could help them figure out how to live life like this and relate your experiences. Two, you are very protective and would be a very understanding and kind caretaker for them.” 

Logic paused. Or maybe he didn’t and Creativity was starting to pass out. His vision was awfully spotty right now and he did feel exhausted.

“Lastly, we know you still talk with Fear.” Immediately, Creativity forced himself not to fall into the darkness. 

“You’re still what?!” Morality gasped, hands slapped over his mouth like it was blasphemy. “Reason, you said you got rid of him? Why are you still _talking_ to him?”

Reason was silent. He turned back around, jaw clenched. Morality and Logic waited for his response. He looked at Creativity and his clone, the anger in his expression only grew and he pushed himself to his feet, turning to both of them. When he responded, Creativity had to strain his ears to hear him.

“Because it wasn't right to throw him out,” he grounded out. His voice was steadily rising. “He might be scary to us and Thomas, but we should stick together. I don’t understand why you can’t just let people be who they are and not try and fix everything and make them like perfect little— there was nothing you needed to— I am not your perfect little split, Morality, stop expecting me to be one!”

The air was thick with tension, Reason was breathing heavily, his whole body shaking with rage and fear. Morality and Logic both looked shocked at the outburst. Reason didn’t let them speak, turning and crouching back down in front Creativity.

“I’m so sorry about all of this,” he whispered, reaching up a hand to hold his cheek. His other hand reached out and rubbed the clone’s knee. “You can sleep, I’ll wake you up later when you’re safe.”

Creativity wanted to think more on why he wasn’t safe, but his eyes were starting to slip and he could only let out a soft sigh.


	2. Chapter 2

Creativity woke with a start, pain making his head explode and he shot up with a whimper, grabbing his head and curling forward. Why did his body hurt so much? Why did everything hurt so much? 

Why does he feel  _ wrong? _

“Creativity, glad you’re awake.”

He jumped. Reason was standing in the doorway, one hand gripping the wall. It looked like they were in Creativity’s room, but it was… different. The lights were dim, the room was overall smaller, there were no windows, and there was another bed across from him with the other Creativity sitting on it. He was curled up with his head on his knees, picking strings out of his pants.

“Where are we?” Creativity’s voice was raw and painful. Everything was painful.

“The basement of the mind,” Reason said, entering the room fully. He sat at the edge of Clone Creativity’s bed. Clone stopped picking at his pants and watched Reason closely. “Where Fear lives. Where we are going to live for now on.”

“What?” Creativity balked, hands playing with the blanket on his lap. 

Reason sighed. “Morality wasn’t happy about my habits of checking up on Fear, nor my…” he cleared his throat and looked away. “My  _ confession  _ about being Reason. Morality stripped me of that role and sent us all here, labeling me… They said some things that they didn’t mean.”

Creativity stared at Reason in disbelief. “But… but he can’t do that! There’s nothing wrong with us! You’re not bad and I’m not bad and—”

He looked at the Clone. He grinned and slowly waved at Creativity. Creativity swallowed and looked away again. He wasn’t sure about him. There had to be a reason Morality sought to split them. Maybe he wasn’t all that good…

“No, we aren’t bad,” Reason shook his head. “Morality is still a kid. He might be one of the oldest alongside Logic, but he is still a kid like the rest of us. Kids do dumb things. And I might’ve hurt his feelings back there. He’ll come around. Eventually.”

“And when he doesn’t?” Clone raised his eyebrows and stared at Reason for an answer. Reason glanced at him with a half-hearted glare.

“He will. He  _ is _ Morality after all,” He hissed, turning away from him. Creativity still had a frown on his face. “Listen, Creativity, you aren’t a bad person. None of us are, Morality will realize that, but for now, we’ll stay here with Fear.”

“I don’t like Fear,” Creativity admitted quietly. “He’s scary. He keeps saying things that make Thomas and everyone freak out.”

“His responsibility is making Thomas afraid, it’s normal,” Reason got up from the bed and headed back to the door. “I’m going to try and make breakfast from what I remember from watching Thomas’s parents. You two can come out when you feel like eating.”

Creativity gave a pitiful wave as Reason closed the door. He focused on Clone now. Was he the clone or was it him? How would they even figure it out? Should he even be calling him Clone if they’re both― supposedly― Creativity?

“What are you looking at?” Clone asked, surprising Creativity out of his thoughts. “Am I pretty? Do I have something on my face?”

He grabbed at his cheeks and pulled them down, pulling on his eyelids so they showed all those pink veins inside and his eyes looked huge. Creativity cringed and laughed. Clone was weird so far.

“You’re weird.” Creativity said as much. Clone dropped his hands and visibly pouted, though playfully.

“Well, you were looking all sad like a kicked puppy, so I wanted to make you smile,” he hopped off the bed and onto Creativity’s. He bounced a few times to make him laugh again. “So what should our names be?”

“W-what?” Creativity laughed softly. “What do you mean names? I’m Creativity?”

“Yeah, and so am I,” Clone sat with his knees to his chest again, hands shimming through them and making him look like a gargoyle. “It’ll be less annoying if we just get names. I always thought it was stupid that we were just named after our functions anyways.”

“Yeah―” Creativity was about to say that he thought that too, but stopped when he realized that he and the Clone used to have the same thoughts. “So what did you have in mind for names?”

“I dunno something cool,” Clone picked at his shoelaces, untying them. “Probably something deep and twin-related. I’ve just been calling you ‘Clone’ for this entire time.”

Creativity laughed again. 

“How about Thor and Loki? Like the Gods in those Avengers comics?” Clone wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “Mufasa and Scar? Or, uhh, what other twin names have we seen on tv?”

“Huey, Dewey and Louie?” Clone suggested. 

“They’re triplets,” Creativity pulled his legs up onto the bed too and crossed them, holding onto his ankles. “And they sound dumb.”

“And naming yourself Scar isn’t dumb?” Clone mocked. Creativity pushed him and he toppled off the bed, laughing.

“We’ll have to come back to that. Maybe we can ask Logic for ideas. He’s smart.” Clone got up again and huffed.

“Yeah, but we aren’t allowed to go upstairs,” he crossed his arms and pouted for real. “I was still awake when we were kicked out. Reason didn’t want to tell you for some reason, but Morality and Logic weren’t happy. Morality said we were all bad and bad for Thomas so we had to leave and Reason kept saying that if we are bad for Thomas, then why are we here. Then Logic tried saying that we shouldn’t be talking about this and Morality and Reason kept yelling and it was getting really stressful and scary.

“So I started screaming to make them stop fighting and it was really cool. All the lights were flickering and it was  _ loud. _ Like, I sounded like a ghost or one of those monkey’s at the zoo,” Clone giggled and smiled briefly. He dropped it again as he continued. “Morality didn’t like that at all. He sent us all down to this place suddenly― like when he used to summon us― but it’s more like he… banished us instead.”

Creativity gaped at Clone. They were… they weren’t allowed to see Morality or Logic anymore? They were  _ trapped  _ down here? Why would they do that? Reason said that they weren’t bad, but why would they do this if it wasn’t because they were wrong in some way? And Clone had scared them like Fear does… Reason had lied and called Morality wrong… 

They couldn’t be  _ good  _ after that.

Clone must’ve seen something he didn’t like on his face because he shoved him and nodded to the door once he got his attention.

“Come on, let’s just go see what Reason made for us. We can come back to this later.” Creativity nodded carefully, standing and following Clone out the door.

The way to the kitchen was the same as before, but the lighting was still dim and the walls were dirty and concrete. It was depressing, looking around at the spiders and webs in every corner. This definitely had a Fear vibe to the place. 

Once they got to the kitchen, Reason was at the microwave. He had his head resting on his hand, watching the loud and busted microwave spin with whatever food he had shoved in there. Fear sat on the counter on the other side of the microwave, shoulders hunched and fingers gripping the countertop as he stared down at his shoes. 

Creativity didn’t know Fear all that well. He only knew him as that one kid that never wanted to join them in conversations and would always jump in at random to say stuff like “What if Mom takes away our Gameboy because we didn’t do well on our test today” or “What if they’re laughing at Thomas because our shirt’s on backwards.” He was frustrating and really annoying. 

Reason looked up from the microwave and smiled. “Hey. Sorry, we don’t have an oven, but we do have the freezer so I’m making pizza rolls.”

“Really? It’s gonna be all slimy in the microwave.” Creativity made a face and sat down at the table. Clone followed him, smiling at the two by the counter.

“I dunno, I would love slimy rolls of pizza,” Creativity fake gagged and Clone laughed at him.

Reason relaxed a little. The microwave screeched it’s end and Reason pulled out the plate of mediocre pizza rolls, setting it on the table for everyone. “Why don’t you join us, Fear? Get to know Creativity a bit.”

Fear flicked his eyes back and forth between before deciding to hop off the counter and shuffle to sit next to Reason. He waited until Creativity and Clone took their food before daring to grab a few himself. Reason didn’t grab any, but he did get up from his chair once everyone got their food and shuffled around the basement.

“I know it looks rough right now, but I’ll try getting some things to freshen it up,” he brushed off the futon, smile seeming a little more strained at the persistent cobwebs and dust bunnies. “I used most of my energy getting your room together. I should be good by tomorrow… would you two mind helping me with the decorating?”

“Hell yeah!” Clone slammed his hands down on the table, plates clattering and Fear yelped. Creativity laughed loudly.


	3. Chapter 3

Reason’s idea of decorating the basement wasn’t… exactly what Creativity had in mind. Everyone else seemed to like it, though, so he didn’t say anything.

The basement looked better, but it was still filled with spiders and cobwebs. Fear and Clone expressed that they liked that look, so Reason based quite a lot of their furniture and decor around it. Clone also said he wanted the real spiders and cobwebs, but Creativity said he thought they were pretty scary. The rest looked like something that Maleficent would use to decorate her castle.

It wasn’t something Creativity liked all that much… but apparently he liked it enough because Clone seemed to  _ love  _ it.

He oddly felt out of place with the others. Clone seemed to fit in with Fear and Reason easier than Creativity did. Fear still said things that made him uncomfortable, but Clone seemed to laugh and egg Fear to keep talking, adding other uncomfortable and scary ideas to his. Reason always told him to stop when he did that. It would make Fear freak out more.

They’ve been living in the basement for three days now when Creativity realized that he wasn’t like the others.

“I thought of some really cool names for us!” Clone shouted once everyone had sat down for breakfast that morning. It was only cereal and slightly questionable milk, but they didn’t complain. Well, Fear complained that they might all get sick from it, but no one else complained.

“What is it?” Creativity asked, chewing the stale cheerios. 

“Roman and Remus!” Clone bounced in his chair in excitement. At the blank looks he was getting, he only smiled wider and sat up more. “Okay, so I found the names in the baby name book and Roman is a play on the name Romulus, the first king of Rome, and he had a brother that he killed named Remus. Also they were raised by wolves because their parents abandoned them which isn’t important, but is still really cool.”

Creativity stared at him with wide eyes. “What?! Why would you want to name us after two brothers that tried killing each other?”

Clone rolled his eyes and huffed. “I dunno, it’s cool! Plus, you remember we used to say we were a king and everyone else was our subjects and Fear was the evil monster living under the bridge.”

“Hey!” Both Reason and Fear scolded Clone. He just laughed.

“Yeah… but I don’t want to be named after a murderer  _ or  _ the guy that got killed by his brother.” Creativity put down their spoon and looked at Clone. Something seemed different about him. Maybe it was the fact that his eyes looked more red than the even split of green and red. Or it was his idea for their names that was making him see him in a different light.

“Okay, but what if  _ I’m  _ the dead guy. Then you don’t need to worry about me killing you at some point,” Clone giggled, sitting in his weird gargoyle-like way. “Plus it sounds cooler than Roman.”

“But I don’t  _ want  _ to be named after a murderer!” Creativity whined. Clone huffed again and shrugged, waving his hand in the air.

“Well, look at it this way,” he said. “Remus tried to betray him and become king so Roman, being a heroic Disney prince or whatever, defeated the evil man and became the rightful ruler of Rome. That’s not murder, huh?”

“Not exactly. It’s still murder, but justified murder,” Reason corrected. He took a sip of his tea. “It’s like killing a dog that is attacking you. You still killed it, but you did it to protect yourself.”

“Why is the dog attacking you?” Fear muttered, fiddling with his hoodie strings. “I mean, if a dog is attacking you, you must’ve done something wrong.”

The topic had shifted and Roman Creativity― or Roman now― still felt… off about the whole interaction. Why did everyone else think that Remus’s idea was okay? Why did Remus want their names to have a dark history to them? Roman did like his new name, but he still felt uncomfortable being named after a murderer. Remus did have a point about the murder being for honor and noblity, but Reason also had a point. It was still murder.

And Roman didn’t feel right about it.

He stayed up that night, staring up at the ceiling as Remus slept silently in the bed beside him. His body was aching still. It’s been like that since the split, he might move wrong and pain would fill his chest or maybe he would turn and lie on his side and it felt like he was being crushed. He wondered if Remus felt the same pain, or was this just another thing about Roman that made him so different from the others.

“I can hear you thinking.”

Roman jolted and turned his gaze to Remus. He was awake now, focused on Roman with wide and dark eyes. He swallowed.

“Was I talking out loud?” Gosh, he hoped he wasn’t. That would take a lot of explaining and he wasn’t in the mood to do that.

Remus shook his head and curled up tighter in his little ball. “No. I couldn’t sleep either and saw you staring at nothing. Is it the weird thoughts?”

Roman scrunched up his face. He turned on his side too, only wincing a little. “Weird thoughts?”

“Yeah, you know,” Remus turned back to the ceiling. “Or I mean― you remember the thoughts about the beast under Thomas’s bed, reaching out a hand from the darkness and grabbing his leg before yanking him into the darkness and eating him whole. And the thoughts of electrifying his brother until his head just popped right off. Weird thoughts.”

Roman was frozen. He  _ does  _ vaguely remember having thoughts like that. He remembers crying one night because they scared him so badly and it woke Morality and he described them in a tearful confession. It had terrified Morality too, he thought it was something wrong with him, but comforted him anyways. 

But he hasn’t had those thoughts since the split.

“I’m guessing by your silence, you don’t.” Remus sounded quiet. He hasn’t been quiet once yet.

“No, I remember,” Roman said, swallowing again. His throat felt so thick. “Have you been having these thoughts all this time?”

Remus turned back to him and frowned. “Yeah. All the time.”

_ All the time. _

“I haven’t gotten them at all. I’ve only been having… dreams.” Brushing past the thoughts of him being different and wrong, he really only did have dreams. Dreams about them all being back as a family, dreams of being one again, dreams of fields and princes and princesses and defeating evil monsters that just happened to look a lot like if Fear was a dragon.

Should he be having weird thoughts like that? Was he just that bad at being wrong like he was told he was?

The conversation died there and Remus turned back to try and sleep.

Roman still ached.


	4. Chapter 4

It’s been over a week, almost two. The basement was fully decorated and stocked with more edible food. They still had only a microwave and a freezer, so not much variety or quality. But it was enough. 

They kept saying it was enough.

Roman and Remus continued to change from each other. Remus’s excited nature began to become more wild and unhinged. He would shout out some of those weird thoughts now, finding it funny when Fear and Roman would cringe. Reason had even commented about their change in eye color too, Remus’s now a full, deep red and Roman’s a beautiful leaf green.

Roman changed too. He would laugh at some of Remus’s weird thoughts and try adding to them as well, though it was poor and a little forced. As was the smile and laugh he gave. He seemed to scare Fear more than Remus did now with how much he would go overboard trying to add to his weird thoughts. Reason kept scolding him for much.

Truthfully, he was confused. When he tried being like Remus, it was too much and he would get a disappointed look from Reason or an annoyed look from Fear. But when he didn’t try being like Remus, he would be the odd one out and they would all look at him like he was overreacting.

Remus still found him fun.

Roman wishes he could say the same for him.

“God, I hate that teacher,” Remus complained as he dropped down on their little couch. Thomas had got into trouble with his 5th grade teacher because he was talking and goofing off with his friends. Remus had been going off about her for 10 minutes now. “Thomas is already a really shy kid, why can’t he just talk to the few friends he has? I wish she’d get really sick or hit by a car or something.”

“Remus—” Reason began in his scolding voice that they’ve all grown to hate and groan at. 

“But what if we’re annoying our friends?” Fear spoke up from his spot on top of the couch. Reason had warned him many times not to sit on that, but he liked to sit on weird things for some reason. “And we were probably distracting some of the other kids. And what if she does get hurt, how would that make Thomas feel?”

“I think he would be happy.” Roman tried. As soon as it left his mouth, he knew it was too much. He didn’t know if he was disappointed or not.

“Roman, that’s not appropriate.” Reason regarded him with a scowl that reminded him of Thomas’s mom when she was trying to get him to admit to stealing his brothers’ toys. 

Something in Roman felt… stretched. Stretched too thin and about to snap. It’s been feeling like that for so long… he wonders how long it would take until it snapped.

He’s been wondering a lot lately.

It wasn’t until the two week mark did it happen. The stretched band finally snapped.

Roman didn’t even remember what the joke was. Maybe it was something about Thomas’s family, or maybe it was about the other sides. All he knew is that Remus found it very funny while Reason and Fear… not so much.

“Roman, that’s not appropriate,” Reason said firmly. Roman had his head down cast while he was being yelled at, Remus’s laughter acting like a hammer to his skull. “You’re behaviour has been awful this past week and I want to know why!”

“I don’t know why!” Roman snapped at him, stomping his foot. Everything was just bubbling up and  _ Remus was still laughing.  _ “I don’t know why I’m acting out or whatever! I don’t know what else to do! I’m not like Remus or Fear or even  _ you, _ Reason! I can’t just talk about things like death or failure without feeling sick. I’m not like any of you, but I’m not like Morality or Logic either. I don’t know what I’m like or what I’m doing and  _ I’m scared!” _

His voice broke at the last word and his anger turned to sorrow. He cried and the laughter stopped. He cried and Reason’s shocked expression turned to guilt. He cried and Fear tried to comfort him, walking towards him. Roman jerked back and glared at Fear, stopping him in his tracks.

“No, don’t touch me,” he gasped and his hands were shaking. They’ve been shaking for days. “You are too much, you’re too much, Fear! And so is Remus and Reason― you’re all too much I can’t take it anymore!”

Reason moved past Fear and gently herded Roman against the wall behind him. Roman whined and sobbed as he hit the wall and slid down it. He was so tired of this. He didn’t want to be here with everything hurting and not being like the others and being  _ bad.  _ He didn’t want to be bad, why was he so bad?

“I’m not like you,” he whimpered. Reason took his hands. Why was he always so cold? “I can’t just be so careless about things and I can’t be scary. I tried, I really tried, but I kept getting it wrong. Why can’t I just be scary like the rest of you? Like Morality and Logic said I am?”

Reason shushed him, bringing up a had to wipe away any tears still running down his cheeks. Roman stared at Reason’s kind, soft yellow eyes. They always looked so cold. So fake to him. Every move he made always seemed acted out and practised. 

“Morality called you Lies,” he mumbled. Reason froze. He pulled his hand away and his eyes were now unreadable. “Remus told me. He said that you embodied lies too.”

The room was quiet. Remus and Fear both shrunk away from Reason. Roman knew he said something wrong again, but he can’t seem to care. Why should he care when he doubts that he’ll be able to stick around after that. If Morality couldn’t handle him being different, then Reason couldn’t either.

“Let’s get you to your room. You can rest for today.” Reason sounded indifferent. Still, he was gentle when he helped Roman to his feet and led him back to his room. He watched from the doorway as Roman crawled into his bed, not making a sound. As soon as he laid his head down onto the pillows, tears made a reappearance in his eyes. He shuddered when Reason rested a hand on his head, petting his hair.

“Everything hurts after the split,” he admitted, the first time he’s spoken about his pain sense it happened. “And it’s not just my body. My― my head hurts―”

“Shh, Roman,” Reason whispered, silencing him. “I know, I understand that it hurts. I’ll… I’ll help you. Just rest.”

Roman shuddered again and nodded against Reason’s hand.


	5. Chapter 5

_ “Please, Morality―” _

_ “What are you doing here?” Morality shuffled closer to the hallway. Closer to Logic’s room. “You aren’t allowed to… you aren’t  _ supposed to _ leave the basement. How did you manage to get out.” _

_ “It doesn’t matter how―” _

_ “But how did you? We locked it.” _

_ “‘Oh, Logic. Can you come here?’” Reason’s voice took a higher, more innocent tone. His eyes were blue. “‘I went down to go check on the others and I’ve, ah, locked myself out. Can you please open the door for me?’” _

_ Morality paled. He took another step back. “You really are Lies…” _

_ “I do what I can for the people that need it,” Reason snapped. “And Roman needs you.” _

_ “Roman?” _

_ “Creativity. They gave each other names so that it wouldn’t be so confusing.” _

_ “Why would he need me?” Morality didn’t stay on the topic of names. He wanted Reason out of here and fast. “Creativity isn’t good.” _

_ “But  _ it is,  _ Morality,” Reason scoffed. “What about those books that Thomas loves, and those Disney movies with the princesses? That’s creativity. And I know you know that not all creativity is bad.” _

_ Morality didn’t speak, looking away. Reason did know, he could almost see the regret and uncertainty on his face, the speech that what he was doing was right repeating over and over in his eyes, trying to convince himself of the fact. _

_ “Morality, you made me Reason,” he tried another tactic. “You made me in charge of Thomas’s health and safety, you and Logic. Trust me when I say that having creativity with you is better for Thomas than throwing it away.” _

_ “No,” Morality shook his head slowly. “You lie. You’re Lies. You convinced us that… that Thomas had to lie sometimes so he didn’t get in trouble. We trusted you because you  _ were _ Reason, but you were wrong and you hurt us all.” _

“This isn’t about me, this is about Roman,”  _ Reason hissed, moving closer to Morality, ignoring the way he flinched and cowarded. “He doesn’t belong with us. If you can’t let us live with you and Logic because we aren’t good enough, at the very least, take Roman. It isn’t healthy for him to stay with me.” _

_ Morality stared at him, studying him closely. Reason let his emotions shine clear, letting Morality see the truth in his face for the first time. This was for Roman, this wasn’t about him anymore. He was going to show Morality that he wasn’t lying for once. _

_ Finally, he agreed. _


	6. Chapter 6

When Roman woke up, the first thing he realized was that it was so much warmer now. The second thing he noticed was that there was the sun shining in his eyes. The basement didn’t have any windows besides the one in the living room. 

When he opened his eyes, he was met with his old room. Before the split.

“Oh, good!” Roman jumped, pushing himself against the headboard of his old grand bed. Morality stood by the door, smiling a small, forced smile. In his hand, he held a plate of pancakes. “I was wondering when you would wake up. You’ve been asleep since noon and it’s almost four now. Have you not been sleeping well with Lies?”

Roman didn’t answer, just watched as Morality fully entered the room and set the plate on his nightstand. He sat on the edge of his bed.

Sighing, Morality said; “I know you are probably really confused, I’ll explain everything later, but right now can you eat? I made them just for you.”

Roman glanced at the plate again. They were fresh, and they were clearly homemade, the edges crispy from the pan. Hesitantly, he picked up the plate and fork, giving himself another moment before grabbing the syrup and drowning them in it. Morality’s smile seemed more genuine now.

“Lies said you didn’t belong with them,” he began. Roman stopped cutting a piece of the food. Morality frowned and looked away, shifting. “That probably wasn’t the best way to start. He said you were too, erm, too… well, he didn’t use words I would describe you. Basically, he said that you didn’t belong with them and you would do better with me and Logic.”

Roman put his fork back down. His voice cracked when he spoke. “W-what about Remus? Fear?”

Morality didn’t question the name. “They still belong down there. Remus―” he laughed a little nervously. “Remus wasn’t really happy that you had to leave. When Lies brought you up here, Remus followed him and started screaming. He was fighting us and he bit Logic. When we got him back into the basement, it took him an hour before he stopped banging on the door.”

He felt sick. “He does scream a lot.” Morality nodded.

“It was really scary,” he held his cheek as he remembered the scene. “He kept shouting really mean and… and  _ violent  _ things. I don’t know how something like that can come out of Thomas.”

‘That’ came out of Creativity. ‘That’ came out of Roman. ‘That’  _ was _ once Roman.

“Are they really that bad?” Roman asked, not looking up from the quilt across his lap. “I mean, they’re scary, but Reason― uh, he was really nice. And Fear was always looking out for us. That one time when me and Remus were climbing on the tables and chairs, he was telling us that it could snap and we could fall and break our necks. Of course, that just made us want to do it more…

“And Remus was my brother. He was scarier than the others and sometimes he woke me up at night screaming from nightmares, but he was still my brother. I don’t… Why did I get grouped up with them? Am I scary?” he looked up at Morality and saw how pale his face looked. 

“I mean… you used to be,” he shifted uncomfortably again. “You remember how you were before. You used to scare us all with your ideas, Thomas too, but I think the split worked. You got all the good parts of Creativity and Remus got all the bad parts.”

Roman didn’t feel like he got any good parts. Remus got all the confidence, he got all the energy. Roman might have gotten nicer thoughts, but he hasn’t even used the imagination yet.

“Eat up, kiddo. I need to check Logic’s arm, but then we can watch a movie!” He hopped up and walked out of his bedroom. “I doubt they had a tv down there or even a signal if they did.”

Roman put the plate back on his nightstand. Morality was right, they didn’t have tv.

But the Creativity twins didn’t need a tv.

_ Remus had cried for hours after Lies took Roman away. His hands hurt and bleed with splinters, shaking as Lies bandaged them up. He screamed at Fear that Reason was nothing but a lying  _ snake _ when he had asked what was wrong. He sobbed alone to himself that he wasn’t good enough to be with his brother in his room.  _

_ Roman’s bed was still untouched next to his. _

  
  


_ Reason— Lies— whoever he was now, sat beside Fear, holding him close as he shook. He felt his own hands shake as he combed through the poor kid’s hair. Fear has always been so sensitive, ~~Reason~~ had to be there for him. Remus didn’t want his help…  _

  
  
  


_ Lies couldn’t afford to think about himself right now. Not until he retired to his own room did he let himself cry about his failure as the protector. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s what I say happened!!! Hope you liked this because I fucking LOVED making this. Shout out if you want more or just want to yell at me for hurting them haha


End file.
